Deans of CHS/SOP
College of Health Sciences
Dr. William Robertson is the interim dean of the College of Health Sciences. Dr. Robertson has served the University in administrative roles including interim dean and associate dean of the College of Education; associate provost; co-chair of the Teacher Education Department; and director of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Division. He is a professor in the Teacher Education Department in the College of Education.
Dr. Robertson's academic areas of expertise are in science education, curriculum development, and technology integration in the K-12 levels. Additionally, he develops research and teaching materials related to inquiry-based STEM Education, project-based learning, problem-based learning, and action science. Dr. Robertson received the UT Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2016 UTEP President's Meritorius Service Award. He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Santiago, Chile, and current serves as a Distinguished Research Fellow with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Previous to coming to UTEP, Dr. Robertson was an employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory and was a middle and high school teacher as well. A long-time participant and performer in skateboarding with over 40 years in the sport, Dr. Robertson has developed Dr. Skateboard's Action Science, which addresses physical science concepts for middle school students utilizing skateboarding and bicycle motocross.
School of Pharmacy
Dr. José O. Rivera, PharmD, founding dean of the new School of Pharmacy (SOP) at UTEP, is a highly qualified leader in pharmacy education and practice, with over 35 years of both pharmacy practice and pharmacy education experience. Prior to his appointment as founding dean in 2015, Dr. Rivera was the director of the UTEP Cooperative Pharmacy Program (CPP) with UT Austin.
Dr. Rivera completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy at the Universidad de Puerto Rico in 1976, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 1979 at the University of Kentucky, and a clinical pharmacy residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. He subsequently held assistant professor positions at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy, the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, and The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy, as well as a clinical associate professor and clinical professor positions with the UTEP CPP. He has also held adjunct faculty positions with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso since 2001.
Dr. Rivera has made a number of notable scientific contributions in the areas of cultural competency, alternative herbal treatments, antibiotic resistance, and the pharmacotherapy of infectious diseases, and has been awarded numerous grants for research on effective medication management and health literacy. Additionally, Dr. Rivera has been the UTEP project investigator for a grant program from the U.S. Health Resources Services Administration supporting the UT Austin College of Pharmacy Hispanic Center of Excellence. Dr. Rivera’s contributions to research have been recognized by the UTEP Center for Hispanic Entrepreneurship and the UTEP Faculty Research Award.
